Aston Villa have reached out to Arsenal over a deal to sign left-back Nuno Tavares, 90min understands.
Tavares spent last season on loan with Marseille on a deal which did not include an option to buy, and the young left-back flashed real attacking pedigree as he racked up six goals in 31 games - only former Gunner Alexis Sanchez scored more Ligue 1 goals for the team.
The 23-year-old sparked controversy shortly after leaving Arsenal by admitting that he had urged the Gunners to give Marseille the option of a permanent transfer.
Now back at Arsenal with two years left to run on his contract, Tavares has plenty of suitors. Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg have both explored taking the left-back to Germany while Nottingham Forest held plenty of talks with Arsenal after seeing their own loanee left-back, Renan Lodi, return to Atletico Madrid.
However, talks with Forest have made little progress and now sources have confirmed to 90min that Villa have expressed an interest in Tavares.
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Villa had been looking at bringing in Sevilla left-back Marcos Acuna but talks over the Argentina international have stalled, forcing Unai Emery's side to look elsewhere.
Tavares has not featured for Arsenal this season, with Jurrien Timber starting the campaign at left-back and Takehiro Tomiyasu brought on as his replacement after the Dutchman went down with a serious knee injury.
Amid all the uncertainty surrounding Tavares' future, his agent confirmed last month that the Portugal international wants to stay with Arsenal.
"Nuno is still under contract at Arsenal," he told TRT Spor. "He wants to stay in the team but we'll see what happens in the future."
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This article was originally published on 90min as Aston Villa hold talks with Arsenal over Nuno Tavares.